


Does This Mean I Call You... Dad?

by skinman



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Other, before the snow ball, better just embrace the change, but after the birth certificate scene, edit: realised it's spelt 'sara' and has been edited accordingly !!, feel, its like the skye/daisy fiasco all over again, lots of confusion over what to call her now, mentions of sarah hopper, nice beginnings of a
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 05:51:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12624600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skinman/pseuds/skinman
Summary: There was kind of a moment that had to have happened in season two between Hopper and El/Jane that we got cheated out of so I wrote it myself. I mean we know Hopper at some point must have told El/Jane she's now officially his kid, and since she had his bracelet (Sara's hair tie) on her wrist at the snow ball, he must have given it to her at some point too.So here it is.





	Does This Mean I Call You... Dad?

‘Does this mean I call you… Dad… now?’ El… or Jane, he supposed it was now, looked up from the birth certificate to regard him critically. He wasn’t sure what she hoped to find in her study of him, but he hoped it wasn’t fault.

 

‘Sure. Unless…’ Hopper cleared his throat gruffly, and sat down across the table from her. ‘Unless, that makes you uncomfortable. We could come up with some reason for you to call me… Jim? You can’t call me Hopper though, that would raise questions.’

 

Jane pursed her lips a little and titled her head the way she always did. ‘No, Dad is fine.’ She said simply, as though she were choosing a pizza topping.

 

Hopper finally reached out to take the sandwich sat in front of him, and slowly bit into it. He hadn’t been called that in a long, long time. He wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about it.

 

‘Not Papa, though.’ Jane’s grip on the paper got notably tighter.

 

‘No,’ Hopper said softly, reaching out with one hand to take the certificate from her before she could damage it. ‘Never call me that.’

 

Jane huffed. She opened her mouth, as if to speak, and then closed it again. Frowning to herself, as she grabbed her own sandwich and bit off a chunk.

 

‘You okay?’ Hopper asked.

 

She finished chewing and then looked him right in the eye. ‘Why did-,’ Jane paused, ‘Why are you my dad now?’

 

By the hurt look on Hopper’s face, she wasn’t expressing herself quite right. The girl still struggled to understand nuance, and find the right words, though she now knew plenty of them.

 

‘No.’ Jane shook her head sharply. ‘Wait. Why did you choose… me?’

 

The pair sat and stared at each other for a moment.

 

‘I… I broke the windows.’ Jane whispered.

 

This statement was so unexpected, and so ridiculous, Hopper couldn’t help himself. He began to chuckle, and then began to laugh wholeheartedly, until his eyes filled with tears. When he wiped them away he found Jane smiling a little unsurely back at him.

 

‘You know what this paper means, kid?’ Hopper held up the birth certificate once again, his thumb not a centimetre away from where ‘Jane Hopper’ sat printed in fresh ink. ‘Means you’re stuck with me. And, I for one, am glad for it. Life isn’t anything without family, and family isn’t always blood.’

 

‘Blood?’ Jane repeated back to him.

 

‘Yeah, you know. Family can be two people who aren’t related… it can be your friends too.’

 

‘Mike is my family.’ Jane said.

 

‘Sure.’

 

‘But _not_ my brother.’ She added fiercely.

 

‘Okay…’ Hopper narrowed his eyes, not quite sure what to make of that. ‘Here,’ It had been so long since he’d first put it on, he was sure he’d feel almost naked without it, but he was also sure this was what he wanted. ‘Hold out your arm.’

 

Jane did as she was told, and Hopper slid the braided blue hair tie onto her wrist. ‘What?’

 

Hopper breathed out slowly. ‘It’s a hair tie. It belonged to my daughter, Sara. She’d have been your sister, I guess. She always said she wanted a little sister. I think… you and her would have been friends.’ The chief smiled sadly.

 

‘Sara,’ Jane muttered meaningfully to herself, as she twisted the hair tie round her wrist delicately, like it was already incredibly precious to her.

 

In that moment Hopper knew he’d made the right decision. ‘You keep that safe, okay.’

 

‘I will,’ Jane said, not looking up, still enamoured by the gift. ‘Promise.’

 

 


End file.
